Evaluation of the behavior of mortars produced with fibers from the straw of carnauba: effects of the content of addition and length used

The rendering mortars must be able to absorb small deformations, in order to guarantee the stability of the masonry (performance and durability). When this premise is not met, there is a greater propensity for the appearance of cracks, one of the main and worrying pathological manifestations in mortar coverings. One of the alternatives to combat this pathological manifestation is the addition of natural/artificial fibers in order to improve the mechanical properties (mainly the traction strength) and, consequently, the deformation capacity of the mortar. In this perspective, this work analyzed the behavior in the fresh and hardened state of mortars with the addition of fibers obtained from the straw of the carnauba (Copernicia prunifera), an abundant tree in the region of the Acu valley/RN (Brazil). For this purpose, mortars were produced in a 1:3 mass ratio (binder:aggregate) with the addition of 3% and 5% fiber from the carnauba straw (CSF) in relation to the cement mass and with the water/cement ratio (w/c) fixed at 0.72 for all mixtures. The effects of using fibers with different lengths (20, 40 and 60 mm) were also investigated. The properties of mortars were evaluated in a fresh (consistency) and hardened (compression and flexural strengths) state. The results indicated that the addition of CSF results in mortar with less consistency and mechanical strength. However, in general, the best performance was obtained for additions of up to 3% and for longer fiber lengths (20 mm). Keywords: Vegetable fibers. Carnauba. Mortar with fibers.